Biohub, US agencies, Google DeepMind and Meta commit $1.8 billion to open data for a 'virtual cell'

Biohub, the US Department of Energy (DOE), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and new partners announced on 7 October 2026 a $1.8 billion expansion of the Virtual Biology Initiative. The goal is an open, AI-ready data resource for building predictive models of cells — often called a “virtual cell”.

Who contributes what

• Biohub (the nonprofit backed by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan) anchors the effort with the $500 million it committed in April 2026: $400 million for new measurement technologies and $100 million for research outside Biohub.
• DOE will invest more than $500 million over five years through its Genesis Mission, using national-lab supercomputers, imaging and autonomous labs.
• NIH will coordinate datasets and repositories built with more than $500 million in earlier federal funding; Biohub will help standardise them for AI training.
• Google DeepMind, Isomorphic Labs and Meta are investing $300 million together.

Note that the $1.8 billion combines new money with in-kind resources such as existing data and computing.

Why it matters

AI models of biology are limited by a shortage of consistent data on how cells react to interventions. The partners plan shared standards, common identifiers and a single access point. Biohub’s head of science Alex Rives called the virtual cell “one of the most important challenges for the next era of science”. The Allen Institute, Broad Institute, Gladstone Institutes, Human Cell Atlas, Human Protein Atlas and Wellcome Sanger Institute will also take part, and NVIDIA will provide computing support.

The initiative sets goals; it has not yet produced a working virtual cell.